I cannot print from Classic

I have an HP all-in-one 2610xi printer and it is suppose to work in OS9.2, Classic and OS10.4. I can print from OS9.2 directly and OS10.4 directly, but not from Classic. HP does not provide support for Classic. Any guesses? I will truly appreciate it.

Isn't OS 9.2 the same as Classic? I could be wrong but I'm sure that any OS pre - X was renamed to Classic....

Welp it's this way...

When you run OS 9 through OS X, it's called Classic. This basically means that OS 9 is just a shell and the one really calling the shots in the background is Mac OS X.

When you boot into OS 9: i.e. OS X is not running. Only older Mac models allow this... can't remember specifically which model was the last of the production line to be able to boot into OS 9 but I have a G4 800MHz iMac and I know that this was one of the last Macs to be able to boot in OS 9.

So the difference is a bit convoluted but there it is: Classic is just a shell running inside Mac OS X while Mac OS 9 is on its own and runs its own show with OS X sleeping peacefully, ready to pounce once you call him.

Would anyone know why I cannot print from Classic?
I can print from OS10 and OS9 fine.

johntalin said:

Would anyone know why I cannot print from Classic?
I can print from OS10 and OS9 fine.

Click to expand...

OS9 is Classic.

Pulse-8 said:

OS9 is Classic.

Click to expand...

Stop saying that. I don't think you grasp the question. If johntalin boots into OS 9 he can print. If he prints from a native OSX app, he can print. If he runs an OS 9 app in classic mode (i.e. booted into OSX) he cannot print. (Not sure why I felt the need to restate the question... it was clear before...)


I'm not sure how to fix your problem though... Have you checked in the classic systems pref window? there may be a print to file option or something like that, that would save your print job as a PDF or something that you could then open with preview and print.

Maybe someone else in here can help
good luck

Does the Chooser work properly in Classic (not when booted into 9)?

jhelm007 said:

Stop saying that. I don't think you grasp the question. If johntalin boots into OS 9 he can print. If he prints from a native OSX app, he can print. If he runs an OS 9 app in classic mode (i.e. booted into OSX) he cannot print. (Not sure why I felt the need to restate the question... it was clear before...)

Click to expand...

Well aren't we grumpy today. You are correct, I didn't grasp the question as was blatantly obvious to even me. Big deal. If you hadn't troubled yourself to restate the question I still would be on the wrong track. It may have been clear to you and everyone else and basically I don't give a rats **** if it bugs you that I didn't get the gist of the OP's thread.

Hi johntalin,

When in Classic (maybe while the app you're trying to print from is running) go to the Apple menu, choose the Chooser. Click on the icon for your Printer then click on the printer port in the right pane in the chooser. This should be the connection that the printer uses, USB, ethernet, whatever. If no port shows up after selecting the driver; or no HP driver at all in the LEFT pane, then the OS9 driver needs to still be installed. Sometimes this is best done when BOOTED from OS 9, not just running Classic.

Hey guys,
Stop the bickering. I did not mean to start WWIII. Pulse-8 was very helpful.
While in Classic, I went to Chooser AppleTalk was not active. So I activated the AppleTalk. The problem still exist, since I still cannot print a file in Classic directly to my printer (I will explain later). But, I can save the file as Acrobat PDF in Classic and save it on HD. Then print that in OS10 without switching systems which is better than before. I don't know if I could have done this without activating AppleTalk or not, but it does not matter. I did not try it before.
Here is what I did:
After activating AppleTalk I went to Chooser again. This time AppleTalk showed active. I selected my printer from the window and clicked "Create". The following window poped up saying "Enter the network address or network name". I tried "AppleTalk" did not work. I tried the network IP address did not work. Like I explained before, I was able to choose Acrobat to save the file as PDF to HD.
If anyone can help me with this last step so that I can print directly from Classic to my printer, I would really appreciate it.

My question is why do you need to print from Classic? If it works when you are in OS 9 natively... and it works when you are in OS X, then why is it that you need to be in Classic to print? It would seem, at least to me anyway, that there would be little need for you to be able to print from Classic.

After all, Classic is merely an emulator. It really wasn't intended to be used for complex or involved uses. Sure printing isn't a complex thing, but Classic's only real viable use is to run some older applications. When it comes to using external peripherals and networking, Classic has always fallen short. The simple answer is, that certain features and hardware simply won't work in Classic, no matter how hard we may try.

Since you seem to have the ability to boot into OS 9, I would suggest doing that when and if the need calls for an OS 9 application.

I have an old application which I had used to create some forms. I need to keep and work with those files for awhile. I only know that program to create those type of documents. Those are all in OS9. I can't just upgrade that program, because it is old and I would need a brand new version. Also, I don't intent to do that job for a long time. I installed that application on my external HD and I work on those files from there in Classic.
The bottom line is that if I can't print those from Classic I have to switch between OS9 and OS10 in order to use my outdated application. It is bothersome and takes time, because I have to reboot my computer often.

Out of a burning curiosity, what is the app you need to use and what type of docs are you producing. You never know, there may be someone here who knows of an alternative....

I use QuarkXP and I had created medical forms which I need to work on for a while longer. Since I am only making changes to them, to start all over would be a waste of time. Even if I could use any other application which I could learn it would mean that I have to buy a full version. They are expensive as we all know. And, most of all, I don't have too much free space on ext. HD and internal HD to waste.